3 Caravan Related Internet Scams You Should Be Careful About

The advent of communication technology and the internet has brought several convenient facilities to us, but there are many heartless and greedy people out there who use the internet to remain anonymous and yet rob people with their scams. If you thought that caravans cannot be leveraged in a scam, then you are mistaken. There are many such scams that have cost people a lot of money. The only way to escape from such potholes is to spread awareness about such issues and take necessary precautions which would keep you away from such scandalous affairs.

Scam #1: Caravan Sale

This particular scam begins with the scammer contacting you as a prospective customer who is interested in buying the caravan that you have put up on sale. The conversation usually happens over email so that the anonymity of the scammer is maintained. Everything might appear to be normal, including the questions that are asked and the request for more photos of the vehicles. This anonymous person will be willing to buy the caravan at the price quoted by you and he would even ask for the address at which the cheque needs to be sent.

The next step involves the fraudster stating that the caravan would have to be shipped overseas and that the shipping agent would collect the caravan at some pre-decided date. When you do receive the check, you will notice that the amount is more than the price you quoted. Upon inquiring about it, you would be told that the amount for the agent’s fee was added by mistake to it. The buyer would request you to cash in the cheque and then deposit the excess amount. But as expected, the cash would never be cashed and by the time you realize it, you would have been duped.

Scam #2: Buying a Caravan

This is related to buying a caravan where you are the buyer. In this situation the buyer comes across a caravan that has been put up on sale online. When you ask the usual questions and ask for a demo, the seller will probably refuse it on account of a lot of “non-serious” buyers who only waste time. The seller would express an interest in knowing about your buying capacity.

In this case, you might be asked to prove your financial worth by transferring funds to a friend or family member via MoneyGram. Once you have done this, you would be required to send the receipt for the same to the sellers. But be careful, the receipt would have all the required information (including the reference number) that would allow them to authenticate the receipt of funds at their end.

Scam #3: Renting a Caravan

This is a popular scam where the fraudsters post about caravan holiday packages or other deals to entice you. Now, first timers or those who are no experienced in this would fall for it. The so called “manager’ would tell you that due to overbooked slots, a certain fee would have to be paid upfront by you to secure your spot there. When you spend a lot of time in travelling to the spot, you would realize that everything was fake and none of it exists, not even the caravan. In such a situation, you have not only lost a good chunk of money, but you also have to bear the expenses of travel and accommodation at that place.